Otaku Champloo

Tag: shogakukan

  • My favourite manga reads in 2016

    My favourite manga reads in 2016

     

    2016. What a year.

    It’s been a tough year for many of us and personally, it was a challenging one. I was so busy with the last stretch of my dissertation that I hardly read any manga at all! When things finally slowed down in December, I started thinking of the titles I should put on this list and honestly, I hardly remembered five titles! I know I enjoyed a couple of reads, but I can’t even remember why I enjoyed them! Isn’t that sad!?! My head was totally out of it that I spent the last week recalling all the good things I read. Thankfully, there were a few that reminded me of good things about 2016. Just like before, these are titles that I have read in the last year and are not necessarily published that same year.

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  • 44. Oshaberi wa asagohan no ato de

    44. Oshaberi wa asagohan no ato de

    Oshaberi wa asagohan no ato de

    I sometimes wonder if becoming a historian is just a haughty excuse to “gossip” on people’s lives. Well, technically, they’re dead but, not gonna lie, I love reading biographies of living folks too — if TMZ and Daily Mail clickbaits count. Hollywood and Hiddleston aside, over the last few years, I’ve been enjoying autobiographical essay manga. Essay manga are a bit like those 24 hour comics where a comic artist shares a part of their lives or their opinions in manga. The best example in English are the essay manga of Shigeru Mizuki — Nonnonba, Showa: A History of Japan series, and Onwards Towards our Noble Deaths. In Japanese, I’ve enjoyed Ishinomori Shotaro’s and Takeuchi Sachiko. One particular title has caught my heart mostly because it mixes four of my favourite things: travelling, manga, Hideyoshico, and food. Oshaberi wa Asagohan no Ato de (Conversations after Breakfasts, 2012) is a treat to read. 

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  • #27: Takemitsu Zamurai

    Sometimes, it takes a well-paced story and some mad swishes of a brush to make me feel excited over an age old feudal tale. Eifuku Issei and Taiyou Matsumoto’s has a masterpiece with Takemitsu Zamurai.

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  • #26: Sex Nanka Kyoumi Nai

    3 a.m. The lights are off. The airport is still.

    A quiet light softens my silhouette over by my bed. These days, it’s my tablet. The light only goes as far as hilighting my face and a book which I’m wildly flipping with great fervor.

    At that time of night, I’m only reading one thing. At that time of night, I want things hard, heated, ruthless, and maybe a little cute. While I have my usual staples of authors to read, for this one night, I grabbed Sex Nanka Kyoumi Nai, hoping I’d have something crazy.

    As usual, I thought wrong. When was I ever right about manga?

    (Note: images after the cut may be NSFW) 

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  • Oishnbo MMF: The Final Dish & Oishinbo Legacy

    I feel like this week came and went and as I wrote my last few articles, I really hadn’t realized that the week was almost over.

    I actually thought that I had written so much (many of them have been written prior to MMF), but the week caught up with me well and somewhere along the way I had to give up on some ideas for articles. To be fair, it’s something that is difficult to catch up on because it’s really just a summary on the cute development of Yamaoka and Kurita’s relationship.  And to be honest, I can’t remember much since I crammed 104 volumes in my head.

    The last day is sweet and it’s not because I made dessert with French Pancake. And it’s not because I finally remembered to mention this awesome Japanese site that actually inspired me to hold the culinary aspect of this feast: Manga Shokudo which also has its own book now!

    In writing the list of unlicensed manga that mangavores and foodies could appreciate, it dawned on me that a lot of these titles wouldn’t have been present if Oishinbo hadn’t been written. After the success of Oishinbo, the manga industry found value in discussing and experimenting with food in its pages. Thus, I’m really happy that food manga was born as it gave us more manga to read.

    Food, while integral to our living, hardly finds its presence in other forms of culture other than its kitchens and diners. To see it as an effective tool in educating people about food makes me appreciate its legacy not only in Japanese culture, but in the world as well. While Ed Sizemore might be missing out on experiencing these featured flavors, I’m happy that he sees value in this genre. When we all have forgotten flavors, these comics contribute in reminding us the various tastes and textures that we experience in food.

    In my podcast, I asked about the future of food manga and Erin was talking about astronaut meals and such. Seeing other developments in cuisine also made me wonder if smaller or microscopic dishes will be enough to feed us someday. Perhaps our dining preferences may change and evolve but I think I can feel assured that if the world does end in 2012 and aliens would have to figure out what we ate, they might just chance upon these comics that tried to capture the flavors that changed our life.

    I’d love to give my sincerest thanks to all the awesome folks who contributed for this Oishinbo and Food Manga MMF. Of course, I’d also like to thank the readers for supporting us! I’ll be updating the links in the viking a few hours from now so stay abreast and follow me over at twitter for any other announcements. If you enjoyed this feast and would like to participate to similar (sans the food) Manga Moveable Feasts, join our Google Groups page!

    Next month is honestly just as exciting as mine! Michelle Smith and Anne are hosting the Inoue Takehiko Manga Moveable Feast from June 24 – June 30 at Manga Report and Soliloquy in Blue. With all these food I ate for this feast, I’m going to get my Shohoku trainers back and get myself ready. L-O-V-E RU-KA-WA! \o/

  • Oishinbo MMF: 7 Unlicensed Food Manga Worth Looking At

    This was a difficult set to write because it was difficult to whittle down the list to seven. This week/month, I’ve been reading various food manga and here are the seven titles that I enjoyed… right now. I have a feeling that if I read the other stories, I’d probably go to my wits and them here. But right now, these are the titles that we’ll all probably enjoy, regardless if we love manga or food a little more than the other.

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  • MMF: Spotlight: Oishinbo

    The first time I entered an izakaya (Japanese pub) in Manila, I was quite surprised that they had a small bookshelf filled with manga. Back then, I was appalled that they didn’t have Prince of Tennis or Naruto but they did have a treasure trove of classic manga which, back then, I honestly didn’t care for. While I ignored many of the titles, I did notice volumes of comics that had food on the cover. What was strange was that when I went to another izakaya, there they were again. And again. And again. Even when I went to Japan, I saw that shops that kept this manga within reach and for a good while I thought that it must be some food manga bible.

    And you know what, it probably is.

    This title had tackled more than just cooking. It spoke of the best preparation, the finest ingredient, the humblest of meals, and the power of food. Oishinbo was more than just a passing read while waiting for your food in an izakaya. It was a food epic.

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  • Adachi returns to Meisei 26 years after Touch

    Adachi returns to Meisei 26 years after Touch

    While this may be old news, it’s still a thrill to see the illustrations for Adachi Mitsuru’s new title in Gessan called Mix. What’s awesome about this is it’s in many ways a sequel to Touch but since it’s happening 26 years after Tacchan’s Koushien win, it’s impossible that it is fully a sequel. Perhaps you can say that it’s part of the “Meisei” universe… those kind of things.

    I can’t say much about this title as I have not read it yet. But Comic Natalie speculates that these two are brothers. I’m not so hot about this whole brotherly thing since I’m still affected by the shenanigans in Touch. However, I am more pleased that it looks like a catcher-pitcher team. At least I don’t have to worry about anyone dying. >_>) Soon. I dunno, there’s always someone who dies in an Adachi Mitsuru title.

    This title’s running in Gessan starting this month in celebration of Gessan’s 3rd year anniversary. Is it me or Gessan’s the hip cool place for awesome new shounen titles?

  • Scouting for Legal Online Manga: Sig Ikki

    Scouting for Legal Online Manga: Sig Ikki

    I am a print baby and I would sooner read my manga in print than in front of the computer. I will admit that since I am in front of a computer most of the time due to work, I cannot help but stray for a quick fix. But that was then and now, it’s a different game.

    In the last few years, manga has been shifting from print to digital. This was in many ways born in response of growing manga scanlation aggregators, but it’s also responding to the needs of some consumers. This year has been particularly exciting and let me share to you that there are now ways for you to enjoy reading manga online… legally!

    For this ‘column,’ I’ll be scouting for some places where you can read legal online manga. This means these are websites that have appropriately licensed and is distributed online some manga online by its publishers. Simply put: these are websites that makes sure the money spend to their website gives something back to their published authors. Your purchase for their digital manga puts food on those tired starving mangaka’s (and friends!) table.

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  • The Tale of Three Tezuka Ladies

    The Tale of Three Tezuka Ladies

    It’s hard to imagine Tezuka with heroines. People often associate Tezuka with heroes like Astroboy (Atom), Black Jack, and Buddha. In the last five years, the most fervent of readers would possibly have heard of Sapphire from Princess Knight. Unless you’re Japanese, she is a mystery. In many books, Sapphire is deemed as a representative of the ambiguous gender identity in Japan and she is celebrated as an icon of feminism in Japanese Popular culture.

    However, Sapphire is not the only heroine that Tezuka has penned. There are many others who may shock us and they are far from the Disney ideals that we often associate with Tezuka.

    This is a tale of three ladies written and drawn by Tezuka. All of them have different stories to tell but all of them present a dimension of our femininity.
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